49-year-old Moyer makes Rockies rotation as No. 2 starter

It appears Jamie Moyer's comeback from Tommy John surgery is complete.

Baseball's oldest active player has made the Colorado Rockies after signing a minor league deal before spring training, the team announced Friday.

Moyer's 2.77 spring training ERA helped him beat out a pair of recently acquired pitchers, Tyler Chatwood and Guillermo Moscoso. Not only that, but Moyer will begin the season behind opening day starter Jeremy Guthrie in the rotation.

Rockies Manager Jim Tracy said Moyer "earned" the spot, and he expects Moyer will contribute to the team as he has done the previous 24 years of his career.

"It is still Jamie Moyer. It's the Jamie Moyer that was pitching prior to the arm injury that cost him the entire 2011 season," Tracy said. "It's the same guy."

Moyer, who will turn 50 in November, is one of only three pitchers in Major League history to pitch past their 49th birthday.

If he wins his first start against Houston on April 7, Moyer will become the oldest player in history to record a win. His career is also older than his current team, which joined the league in 1993, seven years after Moyer's debut for the Cubs.

By returning to the majors, Moyer is now the active leader in wins (267), innings (4,020) and starts (628). In 2010 with the Phillies he went 9-9 with a 4.84 ERA, his last full season.

"I think he can still be very, very effective," Tracy added. "He's an incredible pitch maker. When he's right, he can carve a strike zone up."

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